We should not look at ourselves, but look at the ascended Christ. Hebrews 1:3 says that after Christ made purification for sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. The ascended Christ seated at the right hand of God is the receipt for the payment for our forgiveness. This is a matter of tremendous significance, for it is the foundation of our salvation. Whenever our conscience condemns us because of our failures, we need to remember to stand upon the foundation of God’s righteousness. You may be fervent for the Lord today. But in the future, you may fail Him and therefore become very disappointed with yourself, unable to believe that God could ever forgive you. If you remain under this feeling of condemnation and disappointment, you will not be able to rise up. Instead, you may become subject to the subtlety and deception of the enemy. At such a time you need to praise God for His righteousness. Tell Him that no matter how much you have failed, Christ is still at His right hand as the receipt for payment for all your debts. Our experience may fluctuate, but God remains righteous. Whenever we claim the blood of Jesus and appeal to God’s righteousness, God has no choice except to forgive us (1 John 1:9).
Our experience of Christ rests upon the foundation of God’s righteousness. We should never have confidence in ourselves, thinking that we cannot backslide or fail the Lord. Do not be like Peter who said that he would be faithful to the Lord, even though everyone else might deny Him. The foundation is not our fervency or victory; it is God’s righteousness, the unshakable foundation of God’s throne. God has shown forth His righteousness by passing over the sins of the Old Testament saints and by forgiving us of our sins in the New Testament age. By doing these things God has proved that He is righteous. Now this very righteousness is our foundation. The work of being designated sons of God is built upon this foundation. However, we must be clear that the foundation is not the process of designation; it is the righteousness of God.
Romans 10:3 and 4 say, “For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, did not submit to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one who believes.” Here we see that the Israelites made the mistake of seeking to establish their own righteousness. If we do this today, we also are wrong. Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness. He is the end of the law so that we may gain the righteousness of God.
In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul says, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be constituted the righteousness of God in him” (Gk.). According to this verse, we are not only righteous in God’s eyes, but we are being constituted righteousness. In Christ, we are becoming the very righteousness of God. This experience is subjective and rather deep. In 1 Corinthians we have the matter of objective righteousness, but in 2 Corinthians, subjective righteousness. This means that we are not only righteous before God, but that we are God’s very righteousness.
This takes place through the work of transformation. God is in the process of transforming us with Christ. The more we are transformed by God in this way, the more we become the righteousness of God. As sons of Adam, we were sin. But as the members of Christ, Christ is being wrought into us to transform us gradually from sin into righteousness.
Righteousness means to be right with God in every way. It means that in no matter are you wrong or unfair in the eyes of God. Every part of your being is right according to God. You are as righteous, just, and fair as God is. This is not firstly a matter of outward behavior, character, or conduct, but a matter of our inward being. In the eyes of others, you may be quite good. But as you stand before God, you will realize that you are not good at all. You may be better than others, but certainly you are not as good as God is. To be justified by God means to be the same as He is. When we were saved, we were covered by Christ as our garment of righteousness. This is objective righteousness. But now God is working to make our person, our being, the righteousness of God. This is not merely a garment put upon us objectively; it is the very element of Christ wrought into us subjectively. In this way we have not only the foundation, but also the building.
Becoming the righteousness of God inwardly and subjectively is also related to designation. The more we are designated the sons of God, the more we become the righteousness of God. This is a matter of Christ wrought into our nature, our element, our being, our substance. This is not a matter of something imputed to us objectively, but a matter of subjective transformation. Praise the Lord that we, the believers in Christ, are on the foundation of God’s righteousness. Now this righteousness is being wrought into us to constitute us the very righteousness of God.
Concerning righteousness, there is a difference between 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians. First Corinthians 1:30 tells us that Christ is our righteousness objectively, whereas 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that Christ is being wrought into us to make us the righteousness of God subjectively. Concerning objective righteousness, from the time of our salvation we all are righteous already. But concerning subjective righteousness, we are under a process. In other words, positionally we are righteous in the eyes of God, but dispositionally we are not yet the righteousness of God.
Nevertheless, we must praise the Lord for our righteous position. No matter how poor our disposition may be, we still have the position of righteousness. Because we have this position and foundation, we have the boldness to tell God that He has no right to forsake us. We can say, “Father God, even if You don’t like me, You must still accept me. You put the Lord Jesus on the cross and judged Him on my behalf. Furthermore, You have raised Him from the dead and caused Him to sit at Your right hand as proof that You have received His death as payment for my sins. I believe that You love me, but even if You don’t love me, You still must receive me according to Your righteousness.”
We have been saved by God’s love and by His grace, but especially we have been saved by God’s righteousness. God’s love and grace may change in relation to us, but it is impossible for God’s righteousness to change. Before Christ died on the cross, God could have changed His mind about us. At the last minute, He could have decided to let us all perish and to create a new human race for the fulfillment of His purpose. But as we have pointed out, now that Christ has died for our sins and has been resurrected for our justification, God cannot change His mind. God has signed the will, and He is legally bound by it. Therefore, for our salvation, we stand not on God’s love nor on God’s grace, but on God’s righteousness.
The book of Romans speaks both of God’s love and of His grace. However, Romans does not say that either love or grace is the power of the gospel. Rather, in this book Paul clearly declares that the power of the gospel is the righteousness of God. I am deeply grateful to God for His love and grace. But my standing is upon His righteousness, the foundation of His throne. His righteousness cannot be shaken. If we would be designated the sons of God for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, we all must know this unshakable foundation and stand firmly upon it.
Many Christians praise God for His love and grace, but not many praise Him for His righteousness. Praise Him that the foundation of our salvation is His righteousness! We also praise Him that He is transforming us in Christ into His very righteousness. Eventually, God will be able to say, “Satan, look at My children. They are not only righteous before Me, but they have become My righteousness.” Once we have been saved according to God’s righteousness, we cannot be lost. If we are clear concerning God’s righteousness in the gospel, we shall be at rest knowing that the righteousness of God is our eternal security.